This year, Devil's Due and Dreamweave Studios, the two companies currently producing the new GI Joe and Transformers comics (respectively), are releasing their own versions of a crossover between GI Joe and Transformers. In celebration of that, and to increase the depth of coverage here at the site, I bring you a review of "GI Joe and the Transformers". Enjoy!

GI Joe and the Transformers Issue #1: "Blood on the Tracks":

Summary:We open at Ft. Lewis, in Seattle Washington where the world's first mobile solar/nuclear power plant is being temporarily housed. Outside, a group of protesters is, well, protesting the existence of the power plant (this was back in the 1980s, when nuclear power was seen as evil, evil, evil). A woman in the front of the panel is worried because the protest was supposed to be peaceful and is turning out to be rather unruly.

This could be because the Dreadnoks (Buzzer, Torch and Ripper) are insiting the crowd to violence. Though somehow I doubt they're here because they're overly concerned about the dangers of nuclear power....

In fact, they're probably here because of the big ol' government car driving into the fort. General Hawk can be seen sitting in the front seat.

Historical Note: One of the protestor's signs reads "Remember TMI". Now, for those of you born after 1980, that's referring to Three Mile Island, one of the worst nuclear disasters in US history. It's not a patch on Chernobyl (mentioned on another sign) but still, it scared us bad when it happened. Not that I remember it, as I was a sprout at the time. You can read more about the incidents here, on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's fact sheets about Three Mile Island and Chernobyl

The next two pages are dominated by a panel that takes over the top third of pages two and three. General Hawk and several other individuals climb out of the big government car and admire the mobile power station. Mutt and Junkyard are standing guard along with Scarlett.

A woman, Senator Larkin, proudly shows off the station, called Power Station Alpha. The others with her are suitably impressed by the station, which reminds me of a short, squat space shuttle.

Hawk tells the Senator that he's impressed by the way she got the big wheels to give the go-ahead for this project. He admires the way she fought for the project, making even the opposition see that the power station could work, that it could solve our energy needs well into the next century.

The senator thanks Hawk for his appreciation, but she's just a servant to the people of her state.

Hawk tells the senator that she's underestimating herself and that she can call him Hawk, all his friends do. The senator agrees but only if Hawk calls her Barbara.

Next is a panel of the other three men who were in the car with Hawk and the senator. One of the men, a blond man, says "There you have it, gentlemen. What more evidence do you need?"

Another man, shorter and dark haired, says: "I wish I could hsare in your enthusiam, gentlemen, but where power like this is concerned...I can only fear for the safety of our constituents -- of all man kind! We must be aware of the risk involved!"

Mutt greets General Hawk, saying he's glad the General could make it.

Scarlett says that they're all there to insure that nothing goes wrong, and that after the debacle in Springfield (see issue #50) they can't afford to mess this assignment up.

"What could possibly go wrong, Scarlett?" says Mutt as Junkyard growls at the words that mean the plot will now automatically go south.

Meanwhile Mount St. Hillary, Oregon, location of the Ark (the Autobots' ship), Optimus Prime is telling Bumblebee that he's in need of the smaller 'Bot's special skills. The humans are advancing by leaps and bounds; the power station is by far their most sophisticated construct to date. As such, the Decepticons may already know of the station and if so, the Autobots can't let them get to it.

Bumblebee asks what this has to do with him. Prime tells him that he wants Bumblebee to go to Fort Lewis and watch for signs of Decepticon activity. He mustn't be discovered since the humans fear the Autobots as well as the Decepticons.

Bumblebee agrees, but why does he have to go alone?

Prime tells Bumblebee that the Autobots consider him their master of stealth. Only he has the ability to make himself unseen. Prime goes on to remind Bumblebee that his services have been invaluable in the past. Because of him, they were able to create the Aerialbots.

Bumblebee says, 'Gee Optimus, I guess you're right. I won't let you down!" and off he goes.

After Bumblebee has left, Prime muses, wishing that he could fully confide in Bumblebee about his deepest fears. The threat of Megatron is greater than he thought. "This is truly our most desperate hour," he thinks. A caption tells us to see issue #23 of Transformers for more information.

Bumblebee drives along in bug mode, musing about how he's glad he's not a mindless, inanimate machine like the cars around him on the road. On the other hand, he wishes that he were an Aerialbot, then he wouldn't be sent on mundane missions like this. "What a waste of time," he thinks.

"What a waste of time," is also what Anthony Duranti, the little boy from page one, is thinking back at Fort Lewis. His mother, the worried woman from page one, tells him that if he's bored, he could come help her hand out leaflets. She thought he'd show more interest; after all, it's his future at stake.

The Dreadnoks are also getting bored, always dangerous. Buzzer suggests that they take the situation into their own hands and take the station themselves. Torch objects, but is shouted down by Buzzer and Ripper. He's afraid of Zartan's reaction, but Ripper tells him to "Stow it -- Let's rip!"

Buzzer says that ripping is exactly what he had in mind as he chainsaw's open the fence. The 'Noks then ride into the fort.

The dark-haired man, here identified as Senator Garcia, from earlier is telling Senator Larkin that she's too close to this project to be objective about it. His committee has prepared a report on the potential for disaster stemming from Project Alpha.

The blond man says that they have studies of their own that contradict Senator Garcia's reports. He says that the project has the best of intentions. While no one directly mentions the road to hell's paving material, the third man does mention that many things started off with the best of intentions: Thalidomide, DDT, the splitting of the atom...

Garcia says that Larkin can't comprehend the forces she's dealing with. If the station were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous (this is what's known as foreshadowing, kids).

Hawk says there's no reason to be pessimistic. There's no reason to believe...

He doesn't get to say "that anything could happen," because just then something does happen. Comic book plotting law #1.

The Dreadnoks ride down on the Senators. Hawk drags Larkin to safety. Roadblock and Beachhead open fire on the Dreadnoks, trying to keep them away from the station. Buzzer muses that he wasn't expecting the Joes to be there.

Hawk tells Larkin to stay down before he dashing off as Ripper does what looks like an impossible wheelie as he fires. Hawk warns the Joes to watch their fire. They need to protect the station but they can't risk any casualties. Roadblock says that they're no use without their weapons; why are they even there!?

Torch makes the mistake of firing at Junkyard, which rouses Mutt's ire. Beachhead leads two of the remaining senators off to safety while Scarlett and Snake-eyes take out Torch and Ripper. All is going well for the Joes, except that Buzzer has managed to snag the remaining Senator and demands that the Joes let them go or the Senator gets it.

The Joes acquiesce, since letting a Senator snuff it while on duty would seriously endanger their existence as a unit. The 'Noks leave and the Senator is unharmed except for bruises to his dignity.

At that moment, on Cobra Island, Cobra Commander is throwing a full-fledged hissy fit about the fact that the Dreadnoks were stupid enough to seize the initiative at the power plant. He tells Zartan to round them up and get them out of there before the Joes capture them. Zartan sends Zarana to fetch his bad boys.

Cobra Commander is worried about Serpentor and sees the shot at Power Station Alpha as his chance to regain some of the popularity he's lost since Serpentor's creation.

Meanwhile, Megatron is sending Dirge and Bombshell to take out Project Alpha's main computer. He wants the station for his own needs. Dirge will carry Bombshell, one of the Insecticons, there. Bombshell hopes that this time he'll be able to have some fun, since the last time he was sent out (Transformers #19) was soooo boring.

Note for non-TF fans: Dirge is what's known in the fan community as a 'Conehead'. In his robot mode, his head is shaped like a cone. Like most of the Decepticons, he turns into a jet. Bombshell, on the other hand, is an Insecticon. He transforms into a weevil and fires 'cerebro-shells' which allow him to take over the mind of his victims. That's what he'll be using to take over Power Station Alpha.

On a Washington highway, the Dreadnoks are driving along, harassing passing motorists. Including a little yellow VW bug that seems to 'jump' out of the way of Buzzer's chainsaw.

The Joes grumble about the traffic keeping them from catching the 'Noks, who drive into the back of a convenient semi-truck where Zarana is waiting to chew them a new one. She wants to know what went wrong. Buzzer says never mind that, did he really see a car grow legs and jump away from him? Torch says that it's nuts, but he saw it too. Ripper says they're nuts. Zarana tells them all not to be so sure.

The Joes return to base, grumbling about the way the Dreadnoks seem to have disappeared.

As night falls at Ft. Lewis, Bumblebee watches as the protestors set up camp.

Mrs. Duranti, the mother from page one, talks to one of her fellow protestors. She agrees they've done a good day's work, but that they need a good night's rest since the station will be launched tomorrow.

Bumblebee admires Project Alpha, amazed by the beauty of the engineering. "What a beauty," he thinks.

The next morning, poor Bumblebee gets ticketed for being in a no-parking zone. "Oh the indignity of it all!" he thinks. "This would never happen to an Aerialbot!"

Hawk gets the Joes moving, since they're playing escort for the station on its way to the runway.

Mutt tells Junkyard to go on ahead without him, saying that he can't stand to be without him for long. Awww!

The station prepares for launch, shifting from a dumpy, squat thing into a dumpy, squattish, longer thing.

Outside the base, Anthony is bored again and lonely. Junkyard shows up and the two play Frisbee. Bumblebee sits in awe of the station as it prepares to launch.

Dirge and Bombshell arrive on the scene and pick up on Bumblebee's presence. Bombshell takes this as his cue and comes up with a plan to keep Bumblebee busy while he steals the station. His plan is thus: spotting Anthony he fires a cerebro-shell at him and takes control of the kid's mind, sending him walking toward one of the station's wheels where he'll be crushed to death unless Bumblebee does something to save him.

Note for non-TF fans: if you're wondering why Bumblebee doesn't see Bombshell, it's because in his true insect mode, Bombshell is the size of an actual weevil. Don't as me to explain where the mass goes. The usual psuedo-scientific explanation given is that the excess mass is shunted off to a pocket dimension called subspace.

Bombshell circles around Bumblebee, annoying him until Bumblebee realizes that he's really an Insecticon. He radios Optimus, who sends the Aerialbots to help Bumblebee. As the Aerialbots leave, Prime thinks about how proud he is of their leader, Silverbolt's ability to lead despite his own fear of heights.

Bombshell walks Anthony right in front of the station's wheel, sticking Bumblebee in the middle of a dilemma: let the kid die and preserve his cover or save the kid and reveal himself as a Transformer, risking panic among the humans. Bumblebee makes the only real choice that he can make: he transforms. "I'm sorry, Optimus Prime," he says to himself as he runs off to save Tony. "I've failed you."

True to form, the crowd scatters, terrified by the sight of Bumblebee. It says something about how terrifying the Transformers must be to the people of this world, since Bumblebee is about the least threatening of the Transformers. I mean, cripes, he's a Volkswagen Beetle for crying out loud!

Bumblebee snatches Tony from under the wheel as Snake-eyes leaps into the station and manages to shut it down. Bumblebee hands Tony to his mother who takes her son and runs. The Joes are confused as to what, exactly, Bumblebee is. Not to mention that Tony seems to be in shock. 'What did the creature do to him?" Scarlett asks, not stopping to think that nearly being crushed to death and then rescued from said crushing by a giant robot might just be traumatic enough in and of itself.

Roadblock orders Bumblebee to freeze. He tells Bumblebee that he doesn't know who or what he is, but there's no way they (the Joes) are going to let him sabotage the station.

Beachhead says they have to be careful; they don't want to destroy the station while they're firing at --whatever Bumblebee is. Scarlett agrees, they are here to protect the station, after all.

Senator Larkin shows up, saying that if they have to destroy the station to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, so be it. Hawk says "You hear the lady -- we can sort this all out later! We have no time for a debate! Ready…Aim…"

"B…But you don't understand!" is all Bumblebee manages to get out before Hawk gives the order to "Fire!" and Bumblebee is blown into scrap metal.

"I…have…failed,' Bumblebee says as he lays on the ground in pieces.

The station is still intact. Bombshell flies into it. 'This sucker is mine!" he gloats.

The crowd outside has been dispersed. The station is back at the base and the test has been postponed. The Joes wonder what Bumblebee was. Hawk says they won't know until it's been analyzed. Scarlett says they may not get the chance to analyze it.

Because at that moment, the Aerialbots finally arrive, merge into Superion and say: "We are Superion and we have come for our ally."

"Cripes! What do we do now?!" says one of the Joes.

Note for non-TF Fans: The much lauded by Bumblebee Aerialbots are an example of what's called a combiner or gestalt team: five to six robots who are grouped together by some common bond (example: the Aerialbots are all jets) who in addition to turning into vehicles can also combine into one larger robot. The Aerialbots are one of the few Autobot gestalt teams and are also unusual because they were the first group of Autobot planes. Prior to their introduction, the lines were drawn pretty clearly: Autobots = cars/trucks; Decepticons = jets. (Though there were some exceptions to the rule, such as the Decepticon combiner team called the Constructicons who turned into construction vehicles and Soundwave, who turned into a tape deck).

Commentary: As with most things, I've heard for years now that the GI Joe and Transformers crossover that Marvel did sucked like a black hole. But, I'd never read it until recently. The crossover was so bad that when the plans for two new crossovers were announced (one from Devil's Due and one from Dreamwave, the folks who have the rights to do the Transformers comic), the Devil's Due message boards were repeatedly hit by threads asking if the crossover was going to be part of continuity. Or preemptively whinging about how the crossover was going to suck and how it shouldn't be part of continuity and how the fact they were doing a crossover was apparently a disaster so horrible it was one of the signs of the coming apocalypse.

I didn't think much about doing reviews for the original Joes vs. Transformers series until after I read the first issue of the new Devil's Due crossover (which rocks, by the way). I figured it'd be a nice little tie in with what's being released now and hey, since the site is moving toward being a place for the forgotten Joe comics and cartoons, what better place for there to be an in-depth review of the Crossover That Should Not Be Named?

So, enough backstory, and here's the comments for the first issue:

All in all, this issue gets us rolling pretty well. Each side is introduced in their natural habitat and we're given a McGuffin (Power Station Alpha) that is clearly something that'll be of interest to all four factions. The Decepticons and Cobra want it for themselves; the Autobots and the Joes want to protect the station. Basically, the purpose of this issue is to establish everyone at the scene and give us an introduction of all the main players.

The debate over the power station is also a nice bit of background and gives us a reason for there to be the innocent civilians to be threatened. Tony and his mother show up in all four issues of the series and are a nice counter-point to all the good guy/bad guy stuff that's going on. Considering that by and large, the comics and the cartoons continually focused on the Joes/Cobra and Autobots/Decepticons, it's nice to see a glimpse of the world they inhabited.

Sure, the idea of a mobile nuclear/solar power station seems foolhardy at best and downright impossible at worst, but considering that we're able to accept the existence of the Transformers, it's not that much of a stretch to accept it. This is a comic book, after all, where strange things are allowed to be.

My one main beef with this miniseries is that it takes place within the continuity of both series. This is a beef for two reasons: firstly, nothing in either series up until this miniseries has indicated that either GI Joe or Transformers took place in the same universe. While it makes sense that the Autobots might not have heard of GI Joe, it makes NO sense that the Joes would not be aware of the existence of giant transforming robots. Especially considering the sheer amount of collateral damage these things do when they fight. Not to mention that one would think the Joes would be among the first to be brought on board to deal with such a threat as the Decepticons. It would have been better to either pick one series continuity to follow (preferably Transformers) or to place the storyline outside regular continuity as a "what if" story or just as a "this happened at some point before/after this other stuff happened."

Secondly, it's the same beef I have with most comic books that refer to previous events: what do I do if I don't have these issues?! Sure it made sense to refer folks to issues back in 1987, when you could still pick up say, issue #23 of Transformers at the comic book shop, but these days these issues can be a bitch and a half to find. Leaving out the regular continuity would have kept it from being much of an issue (no pun intended).

I do think the writer of the miniseries (not Hama) does a good job of characterizing the various groups. Then again, I'm familiar with the characters on both sides, so it's easier for me to follow along than it might be for someone who is unfamiliar with one side or the other.

On the whole, I'm not seeing what the big kafuffle was about this miniseries. It's not Shakespeare by any stretch but so far, so good. Let's see how things develop, as we go along, shall we?

Next issue: "Power Struggle"